What is the average commute in Shelby County, Tennessee?

The 2024 ACS five-year mean one-way commute estimate is 22.3 min, excluding people who worked from home.

What share of workers in Shelby County, Tennessee work from home?

The 2024 ACS five-year work-from-home estimate is 10.8%, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points.

Are the 2021 and 2024 commute estimates independent?

No. The five-year periods overlap, so their difference is presented as directional rather than an independent annual or causal change.

COUNTY · TN · GEOID 471572024 5-YEAR

COMMUTE PROFILE

Shelby County, Tennessee

Name: Commute estimates for Shelby County, Tennessee
Creator: U.S. Census Bureau
License: https://www.usa.gov/government-copyright

According to the 2024 ACS five-year estimates, residents here averaged 22.3 min one way; 10.8% worked from home, 76.6% drove alone, and 2.5% of commuters traveled 60 minutes or more.

Mean one-way trip22.3 min±0.4 min MOE

Worked from home10.8%±0.5 pp MOE

Drove alone76.6%±0.5 pp MOE

60+ minute trip2.5%among commuters

U.S. Census Bureau ACS estimates for residents age 16+ who work. Commute time excludes people working from home.

01 / THE SHIFT

What changed in Shelby County's published commute estimate?

From the 2021 to 2024 overlapping ACS periods, mean commute changed -0.5 minutes and the work-from-home share changed +4.7 percentage points.

These periods overlap: 2021 covers 2017–2021 and 2024 covers 2020–2024. Changes are directional comparisons, not independent annual measurements.

Mean commute22.8 min → 22.3 min▼ 0.5 min

Average for workers who did not work from home.

Work from home6.1% → 10.8%▲ 4.7 pp

Share of workers age 16+ who usually worked from home.

Public transit0.7% → 0.5%▼ 0.2 pp

Public transportation excluding taxi.

Drive alone82.0% → 76.6%▼ 5.4 pp

Car, truck, or van—drove alone.

02 / MODE SHARE

How Shelby County residents usually get to work

Driving alone was the largest listed mode at 76.6%; 0.5% used public transit and 10.8% worked from home.

Drive alone76.6% ±0.5 pp

Carpool9.4% ±0.5 pp

Public transit0.5% ±0.1 pp

Walk1.3% ±0.1 pp

Bicycle0.1% ±0.0 pp

Work from home10.8% ±0.5 pp

Each share uses 418,661 estimated workers as its denominator. Categories shown here do not include every ACS mode.

03 / PEER CONTEXT

How Shelby County compares with similar-size countys

This county's mean commute is at the 13th percentile among covered 500k+ countys; each percentile describes one metric only.

Percentiles are single-metric context, never a “good commute” score.

13^thMean commute percentile

Mean commute time is lower than about 87% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

8^thWork-from-home percentile

The work-from-home share is lower than about 92% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

13^thTransit percentile

The public-transit share is lower than about 87% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

1^th60+ minute percentile

The 60+ minute share is lower than about 99% of covered countys in the 500k+ population band.

04 / ESTIMATE BASE

The counts behind Shelby County's commute shares

The 2024 estimates cover 418,661 workers age 16+, including 373,274 workers with reported travel time and 45,387 home workers.

Population estimate919,173± — MOE

Workers age 16+418,661± 3,879 MOE

Workers with travel time373,274± 3,999 MOE

Estimated home workers45,387± 2,076 MOE

Why the ± matters

ACS values are survey estimates. The margin of error is the 90% confidence interval published by the Census Bureau or calculated for a share from published component margins. Small differences can be sampling noise.

05 / SAME STATE

Comparable Tennessee commute records for Shelby County

These 1 same-state records are the closest population peers available in the published dataset, not recommendations or a composite ranking.

All Tennessee reports →